Box-toe-treating apparatus.



A. 1. RYAN.

- BOX TOE TREATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-8,1914.

1,269,648. Patented June 18, 1918.

UNITED STATES-*PATEN T OFFICE.

ALBERT J. RYAN, OF oINoINNAT or Io, ssIeNoR ToRYAN IDEAL fs'rAIN'AND BIi'ACK- INe COMPANY, or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, (A FIRM COMPOSED or ALBERT 3. RYAN, or CINCINNATI, OHIO, AND ALEXANDER J. MCCORMICK AND DENNISiF. MARKS, OF

LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS).

BOX-TOE-TREATING APPARATUS.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT J. RYAN, a" citizen of the United States, and a" resident of the city of Cincinnati, infthe county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-ToeTreating. Apparatus, off which the following is a fuIL'Clear, and exactfdescrip tion, reference being had to the accompany ing drawings, forming part of this specification."

The box toe of a shoe of usual commercial use consists in a piece of ifelt,'hardened permeating itsQsubstancewith certain gums and waxesj In putting in this box "toe it becomes necessary. to soften it andr'let it harden several times as willibe explained in the descriptive'matter below.

Certain substances have ,fbeen' devised which canbe softened quickly and easily by a moderate application of heat,;and will'cool' and harden quickly. In the-device illus trated and tofbe "described, theiobject is to provide a convenient heater, compact and easily regulated which can be used by an ope erator in putting his boxtoejinto a shoe,

- where the box toe will not; req1 1ire two or complete and closed.

' toes.

three days to harden after-each softening. The accomplishment of this'object isobtained by, thatcertain insulated-box, electrically l1eated, and conveniently arranged: to be hereinafter specificallypointed out and claimed, whereby all'the heatingsfarepro vided for and chance of the shoe is done away with. 1'1" f I In the drawings, v c f F igure-l is a perspective [View of the box Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the box taken at one of thefhoods. Fig. 3 is the tray for the separate box Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through a last and upper with box toein place. v I v Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the part shown in Fig. 4, showing the box toe partlypullcd over andtacked to the last.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a, sewed box toe in an upper before the first eper'atieny The operations necessary in putting in a box toe are as follows: The guni stifiened segmental shaped felt 1, which forms the toe, is heated until it becomes softr Specification of Letters Patent. ,Patenfed Jfine 1 8, Application filed September 8, 1914. Serial No. 860,551.

operator takes his last 2, and over .it places" the upper 3 with lining 4:. Then by haiid'. he inserts the box toe between the upperarid' the lining and bends This operation of bringing. the shoe ace down over the last, pulling-over the shoe, is accomplished 'by machine. or hand, and tacks 5', 6, are vdriventhrough the shoe the whole overthe la'st; I

into the edges of the last to't'hold the arts pulled over position, the tacks 'beiiig-one at each side of the ,toe and one (not shown {at thepoint of thetoe,

In one method of manufactur he ber ts tre'atediwiththeguin just before i fig hea 't ed, and is'stic ky to handle,and mustf"be put} away todry for severalfdays. *In amass 'me'thod,"the' box already gummedfis exposed to raw steam which softens the waxes. elther case, the use of'aheateris] not Cf particular importance, and the operators hands;

.. ator takes the last and shoe'tOgetlier and Sub jects'them to another heating, and assoong as the box is soft, the shoeis wipedin, by an apparatus which smooths the" shoe 'o'ver'the last, and runs a wireiaround the' parts toi hold them in place;

In ,thedrawings', the last islshowfi witliout any of the portions of the 'so1e ofthe shoe mounted thereon, but it must be understood thatin the ordinary practice theiiisole will be place before the pullilig oyi'is d'onex Thus the dangerin" this-latter OperatiOnT U is considerable, because, 1 a fairly high temperature'will notfiiipii'etlie best leathers used for "uppers; it' will almost Qheaper upper leather wouldbe mince-"n56;

surely ruin the sole portions of the shoes.

, ient and compact board, having sides 10, 10,

too, the parts are reversed and it may be stated that for practical and efiicient operation, of a heat generating nature that can be completely controlled.

The method above described is, of course, not the only way of working in a box too. Some toes are sewed in the upper before the pulling-over operator gets the shoe. Such boxes have an ungumined flap G (dotted lines, Fig. 6), and this flap is sewed by a seam 7 (dashes, Fig. 6). The heating before pulling-over to soften the too must then be done in company with the upper, and the best method is to bring the upper over the last, and hold it thus while heating. The further operations are then followed as in the case already dealt with.

In any instance, the shoe cannot leave'the sight of the operator while it is being heated, because of the danger of heating too long.

From the above exposition, the theory upon which my heater is constructed can now be understood. It is desired to have an absolutely regulated temperature, a convenand movable structure, a place for box toe heating, and a place in full view for pulled over shoe heating.

There is accordingly provided a box of heat insulating material such as asbestos a bottom 11 and a top lid 12. This top need not be a hinged lid, but it is made so for convenient access to the interior for repairs and the like.

A tray drawer 13, of wire gauze or screening, is provided, with a front 14, and the box is provided with the ordinary ways (not shown) for the drawer to slide on. This drawer is intended to accommodate the box toes separated (Fig. 3), and there need not be any depth to the drawer. nothing but: a

sliding tray being preferably used to accommodate these fiat boxes.

The top or hinged lid, as the case may be, is provided with one or more its surface, of semi-funnel shape, and over the open front of the hoods are hung, by hinges 16, the segmental flaps 17, to prevent escape of the heat from the box. Into these hoods are inserted the toes of pulled over shoes for the second heating since the heat rises through the box into the hoods, they being merely raised up portions of the top.

The ordinary way is to put the shoe in last down, but in the case of the sewed box and the last turned up. It can be appreciated that this means of giving the secondary heating is of great practical advantage, as the shoe is in the hands and to prevent burning or scorching.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for the heater used must be hoods 15 inin sight of the operator andnaturally subject to his constant attention five cents each,

' amount of current admitted to the heater absolutely regulates the amount of heat generated in the box.

It will be understood that this heating device sits on the work bench, one for each operator. A mere doubling up of parts would make it accommodate two or more operators, but while this would approximate my invention and be covered by it, it woul be departing from the preferred form of an individual machine, small, convenient, actuated from electric light lines. A small steam coil, if substituted for the electric light heater would in some ways serve the purpose of my electric heater, but for safety and convenience would be much less preferable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A receptacle having a heater in the lower portion thereof, a foraminated parti therethrough, and a top cover for the box having openings therein, with the cover arched over the openings, of a shape to permit the insertion under the arched portions of the toe of a shoe. I

2. A receptacle having a heater in the lower portion thereof, a foraminated removable partition above the heater to prevent contact therewith while permitting the heat to rise therethrough, and a removable top cover for the box having openings therein, with the cover arched over the openings, of a shape to permit the insertion under the arched portions of the toe of a shoe.

3. A receptacle having a heater in the lower portion thereof, a foraminated partition above the heater to prevent contact therewith while permitting the heat to rise therethrough, and a top cover for the box having openings therein, with the cover arched over the openings, of a shape to permit the insertion under the arched portions of the toe of a shoe, and flaps to close the openings of the arched portions and prevent escape of the heat when the shoe is removed- ALBERT J. RYAN.

Witnesses FRANK W. KUNKEL, KATHERINE SMITH.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0.

dso 

